Breaking Into The Industry With SWIFT....

Two months ago I began applying with different companies that had a sponsored training program. Whether for good or ill SWIFT transportation was the first company to respond. After discussing this company with my Father-in-Law (a 20 year driving veteran) i decided to take SWIFT up on its offer.

Because I was currently working as a Workers Compensation Insurance Consultant i had to give an abnormally long (2 months) notice. During this time I was able to obtain my Class A CDL permit (with airbrakes and Combination) as well as my DOT Physical, which is required prior to applying for the permit here in Oregon. This two months notice was a blessing and a curse. While it gave me plenty of time to get everything together it also allowed alot of time for second guessng and cold feet for my wife and I. SWIFT only has three training areas and I will be writting my ongoing review/diary from Lewiston Idaho.

When you furst contact SWIFT you will be routed to a "recruiter" who will help guide you through the application and training phase of your employment. Once you have completed your application your "recruiter" will contact you with a few questions. I recomend having a list of questions of your own at the ready. You will then be assigned an online username and password in order to complete their online preliminary training. This online course takes approximately four hours to complete and consists of a series of videos and multiple coice as well as true or false tests that require a score of 80% to pass.

You will also be required to complete a DOT physical at a SWIFT approved clinic. This is paid for out of your own pocket. Please be ready to shell out $90.00 or more. I was very pleased with this as the nearest SWIFT approved clinic was in Portland OR (400+ miles away). As this was not feasible for me my "recruiter" went above and beyond by following through with whatever management she had to in order to establish a new approved clinic in my town.

The last step in the recruitment process was to obtain your class A CDL Permit and schedule your class start dates. Be aware that the CDL Permit costs come out of your own pocket and ran me approximately $50-$60.

Now that I had completed that it was down to a hurry up and wait game. Your recruiter will not schedule your class dates more than a month out and will not get your room and bus ticket until the Thursday prior to yor class start date.

As you will probably have noticed I have been using quotation marks around the word recruiter. This is because I would not consider her a recruiter. I recruited myself and felt i had to be ontop of her to make sure things happened. I would consider her more of a facilitator.

My one piece of advice to anyone considering applying with SWIFT would be patience! Remember tha our recruiter is probably dealing with a coule dozen new people with hundreds of questions a week. Patience and persistence wins the day.

At this time I am riding a bus to Lewiston Idaho and my phone battery is going dead. I start classes tomorrow and will be logging more diaries as things happen. Wish me luck...

Big D...

Congrats sir, boy tomorrow is start day for a few of us it seems. I'm in Marshfield WI starting with Roehl in the morning. I guess we are going to fill this forum up quick. Best of luck.

Wow Daniel that was an awesome first update! Thanks for the info. That kind of stuff will be tremendously helpful to people following in your footsteps.

My one piece of advice to anyone considering applying with SWIFT would be patience!

Actually, the two most important things in getting your trucking career underway is patience and persistence. Just expect to hit some bumps in the road from time and time. Keep a great attitude, learn all you can, and try to enjoy yourself along the way. You're going to run into a lot of classmates that have absolutely no chance of being successful in trucking, usually because their attitude prevents them from learning and getting along with people. Avoid them like the plague. It will take you 10 seconds to recognize most of them, usually because they don't stop complaining or criticizing for even five seconds at a time. Find some classmates that are serious about being successful but are positive and enthusiastic at the same time. Stick together and help each other out.

And be aware of the fact that Swift is going to test you in a lot of ways. They're going to test your patience, your ability to listen, and your dedication to making it in trucking. So every time they change the schedule on you or do something that seems odd just keep in mind it might be a test. I've heard stories from other companies of trainers telling the class, "Stay here in the room. I'll be right back." When they finally return an hour later anyone who isn't in the classroom is sent home. That's no joke.

So listen and learn, remain humble, try to have fun, and find some great classmates to work with.

Looking forward to hearing more from ya!

I was in the waiting room for my DOT physical today, began chatting with an OTR team driver who's been driving two years. She started with Swift. Says they are the nices group to work with! I'm supposed to start with Swift Memphis Monday (Dec. 15)